Air rifle



F. MlHALYl June 14, 1932.

AIR RIFLE Filed April 19, 1950 column of bullets in the before thebullet can enter lize all of the compressed air,

Patented` June 14, 1932 UNITED sTATEs .PATENT OFFICE PANY, l' ST. LQUIS,

MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF vMISSOURI .AIR RIFLE Application Ied April19, 1930. Serial lilo'.4 545,728.

My invention relates to air guns and consists in a novel construction ofthe bullet feeding, retaining and discharge mechanism.

The present structurer. incorporates the means shown in my copendingapplication, Serial Number 292,699, led July 14,1928, for regulatin theamount of air admitted into the disc arge chamber including the valveadjusting mechanism and the means for automatically closing the valveafter its momentary opening, irrespective of the manual operation of thetrigger, and also includes some automatic loading mechanism elementssimilar to those disclosed in my copending application.

T he general objects of my present structure, like those of my copendingapplication, include the provision of an automatic repeating air gunrequiring no other manual operation but the repeated movement of thetrigger Jfor the discharge o a series of bullets, having a novel meansfor retaining the bullet in iiring position, and having a novel meansfor adjusting the charge of air for each bullet.

The bullet retaining means in my cepending application, provided by theforce of the magazne spring transmitted through the magazine to thebuliet in tiring position, has the disadvantage of reducing the firingpower of the rifle by the amount of force expended in causing the bulletto push back the column ofibullets in the magazine when the riile isdischarged the discharge barrel proper. A partcular object of my presentapplication is to overcome this waste of force by placing the bullet ina ring position completely free from the pressure of the bullets in themagazine and providing a spring retaining means just strong enouglh tokeep the bullet from rolling out of t e barrel if the barrel is inclineddownwardly. i

Another object of my invention is to utiadmitted to the dischargebarrel, to propel the bullet and to avoid the loss of a portion of thisair through the magazine tube as occurred in the gun of my copendingapplication.

Another object 1s to insure the delivery of all the bullets in themagazine to the discharge barrel before reloading is necessary. Anotherobject is to provide an air gun of the class described with a triggerlock or safety catch.

The foregoing `and additional detail objects which will appear in thespecication are attained in the structure illustrated in theaccompanying drawing in Which- Figure 1 is a vertical section of aportion of my gun.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section and a top view taken on the line 2`2of Figure 1.

Y Figure 3 is a similar section showing the parts in a dierent positionand is drawn on an enlarged scale.

Figure 4 is a detail horizontal section taken substantially on line --fof Figure 1 but showing the trigger in locked position.

'The gun stock 1 mounts the gun body 2 which is of tubular shape and theforward portion 3 of which forms acylinder in which the air compressingpiston 4 operates. r1`he rear portion of the body constitutes a chamber5, for compressed air, and a housing 6 for the breech block and triggermechanism.v Adjacent to the body 2 are the magazine and dischargebarrels 7 and 8 respectively. The magazine barrel 7 is provided with anopening 9 through which bullets may be supplied to the barrel and basaninclined passage 19 leading to the discharge barrel. A plunger 10 isslidably mounted in barrel 7 and a coi spring 11 moves plunger 1() tothe inner end of the barrel. rThe end of plunger 10 is provided with aiiexible shaft 12 comprising a double coil of lightl spring wire andhaving a bead end 13, being substantially the size of the bullets usedin the gun-and be- 'ing for the purpose of engaging the rear bullet 14.A handle 15 on stem 1() slides in a groove 16 in oflgroove 16 nea-restthe front end of the barre handle 15 may be turned (and in which it isturned in Figure 1) to hold the plunger 10 in retracted position whilethe magazine barrel is being filled with bullets. A projection 68 on thegun body forms a stop for limiting the. rearward movement of handle 15and conthe' side of barrel 7 and the end I has a lateral oiiset 18 intowhich the sequently limits the movement of bead 13 through passage 19.The length of member 10 and the position of stop 68 are so correlatedthat bead 13 will feed the last bullet into the discharge barrel but thebead itself can not enter the barrel. This feeding of the last bullet isa safety feature which functions irrespective of the position in whichthe gun is held and is novel in air guns.

The discharge barrel is provided with a slidable sleeve member 20 havinga forward hollow portion 20a which slides into a position posterior tothe passage 19 (see Figure 3) when a bullet is being admitted from themagazine to the discharge barrel, and slides past the passage 19forwardly to the position shown in Figures 1 and 2 to restrain theentrance of other bullets from the magazine and to push the first bulletB into the firing position against the yielding holding ele-- ment 49.In this position, an opening 37 in the side of portion 20a is alinedwith a passage 36 leading from the air chamber 5.

The rear partof member 20 forms a hollow portion 207). A shoulder 21abuts the end of discharge barrel 8 to limit forward movement of thesleeve in the barrel.

At the rear of member 20, is a collar 23 and between the collar 23 andthe rear of the discharge barrel 8 a spring 24 is compressed and tendsto thrust the member rearwardly to the position shown in Figure 3, thuspermitting the magazine spring 11 to push a'bullet into the dischargebarrel 8.

Slidably fitting into the rear portion of 20?)4 of the sleeve member isa plunger 25 having an enlarged rear end 26. Compressed between end 26of the plunger 25 and the solid portion of the member 20 is a spring 27which 1s stronger than spring 24. Any pressure brought to bear on theexterior of end 26 moves the plunger and sleeve member as a unit untilthe shoulder 21 of member 20 engages the end of the discharge barrel 8,after which the plunger and sleeve member are telescoped. Attached tothe barrel 8 is a guide 29 in which rides a screw 28 extending rom thecollar 23 to limit the rearward movement of sleeve member 20.

The bullet feeding and firin mechanism is controlled by a trigger mem er50 pivoted to the breech block 69 at 51 and having an upstanding arm 52projecting through the slotted flange 53 on end 26 of the plunger 25 andengaging the end of the plunger to move the same forwardly when thetrigger is retracted. Normally, springs 24 and 27 thrust sleeve member20, plunger 25 and trigger arm 52 rearwardly into the normal positionshown in Figure 3.

During the initial movement of the trigger, arm 52 moves forwardly tomove plunger 25 and member 20' as a unit from the position shown inFigure 3 to the position shown in Figure 2. Y'During the movement, thefront end of sleeve 20 seats bulletvagainst its seat 56 by spring 57.The cam has a pin and slot mounting 58 on the breech block 69 in housing6 and a knob 59 on the end of a spring 60 thrusts the cam, downwardlyinto the normal position shown in Figure 1. Further retraction of thetrigger from the position shown in Figure 1 will cause the triggerfinger 61 to move forwardly and downwardly and raise the cam with itscam surface 62 engaging pin 63 and move valve 55 forwardly to permit thepassage of air through the valve opening and passage 36. The engagementof trigger finger 61 on the cam is only momentary 1n duration, however,and the finger immediately slips off of the cam to permit its return andthe seating of valve 53. l

Upon release of the finger engaging portion of the trigger 50, springs24 and 27 thrust the trigger arm 52 back, as explained above, and thefinger 61 moves upwardly and the cam 54 moves rearwardly due to its pinandslot mounting until finger 61 passes beyond the 'end of the cam whenspring 60 will move the latter down to its original normal positionclearing pin 63 but ready to engage the latter after the trigger hasagain been operated far enough to telescope the sleeve member andplunger.

The breech block 69 has a lateral recess receiving a sliding pin 70, anda,I spring pressed locking element 71 bears against a groove in pin tofrictionally retain the pin in retracted or advanced position. In theadvanced position shown in Figure 4, the inner end of the pin projectsin front of the trigger arm 52 and prevents the operation of the gun. Bypulling pin 70 outwardly, the trigger is free to move.

From the above description, it will be seen that I have produced anautomatic repeating air rifle in which the repeated pulling of thetrigger will discharge successive bullets one after the other as long asany bullets remain in the magazine barrel and any air under compressionremains in the chamber. Also I have reduced the resistance that a bulletmust overcome in being discharged from the firing position, and haveeliminated a source of loss of power due to leakage of compressed airthrough the side of the discharge barrel into the magazine barrel. AlsoI have progenauen vided safety feeding and locking features which arenovel in the air gun ield.

While I have shown my invention embodied in an air ril-le, it may beutilized in.

the scope of my claims.

I claim:

1. In an air gun, a magazine barrel, a discharge barrel,y a passagewaybetween said barrels, a member mova le in said discharge barrel, and aspring engaging said discharge barrel and said member and tending tomove said member rearwardly in said discharge barrel to open saidpassageway to admit a bullet from said magazine barrel into saiddischarge barrel.

2. In anl air gun, a magazine barrel, a discharge barrel, a passagewaybetween said barrels, a sleeve member slidably {itt-ing in saiddischarge barrel and adapted to close or open said passageway, opposingelements'on said barrel and sleeve member, a sprlng compressed betweensaid elements and tending to move said sleeve member rearwardly in saiddischarge barrel to open said passageway to permit a bullet to entersaid discharge barrel.

3. In an airgun, a magazine barrel, a discharge barrel, apassagewaybetween said barrels, a sleeve slidably fitting in said discharge barreland adapted to close or open said passa eway, said sleeve projectingfrom the rear o said discharge barrel, a colla-r on the rear end of saidsleeve, and a spring on said sleeve between said collar and the rear endof said discharge barrel tendingto vmove said sleeve rearwardlyin saiddischarge barrel to open said passageway between said barrels to permita bulletto enter said discharge barrel.

d. In an air gun, a magazinebarrel, a discharge barrel, a passagewaybetween said f barrels, a sleeve member slidably fitting in saiddischarge barrel and adapted to close or open said passageway, saidsleeve member projecting from the rear of said discharge barrel andhaving a shoulder limiting they movement thereof into said dischargebarrel, a collar on the rear end of said sleeve member, and a spring onsaid` sleeve member between said collar and the rear end of saiddischarge barrel tending to move said sleeve member rearwardly in saiddischarge barrel to open said passageway to permit a bullet to entersaid discharge barrel,

5. In an air gun, an air chamber, a discharge barrel, a passagewaybetween said air chamber and said discharge barrel, a sleeve slidablyitting in said barrel, means limiting the forward movement of saidsleeve, a plunger slidablyditting into the rear end of said sleeve, aspring compressed between said sleeve and said ldis-charge barrel, asecond spring 'stronger than said first s ring and compressed betweensaid sleeve an lung'er,

a valve controlling said passageway retween said air chamber and saiddischarge barrel, and a trigger mechanism, said trig er mechanism beingadapted to -move sai plunger and sleeve as a unit' forwardly to thelimit of said sleeves movement topush a bullet into firing position, andthereafter to telescope said plunger and sleeve and actuate said valveto open said' passageway to discharge said bullet. y

6. In an air gun, an air chamber, a discharge barrel, a-valve betweensaid air chamber and said discharge barrel, a trigger mechanism, anoperative connection between said trigger mechanism and said valve, asleeve slidably itting in said discharge barrel and adapted to move abullet into ring position, means onsaid sleeve limiting the forwardmovement thereof, a plunger slidably fitting into the rear portion ofsaid sleeve, means adapting said sleeve and plunger to be moved asa unitwithin the range orn the movement of said sleeve, said trig er mechanismengaging the rear of said p unger to move said plunger and sleeve as aunit .until a bullet is moved into firing position and then to telescopesaid plunger and sleeve until said valve is opened and the bullet isdischarged. l

7. In an air gun, an air chamber, a discharge barrel, a valve betweensaid air chamber and said discharge barrel, a trigger mechanism, anOperative connection between said trigger mechanism and said valve,means in said barrel for preventing a bullet from rolling out of thebarrel before the iiring oi the gun, a sleeve slidably fitting in saiddischarge barrel and adapted to move a bullet into liring position,means on said sleeve limiting the forward movement thereof, a plungerslidably fitting into the rear portion of said sleeve, a spring engagingsaid sleeve and said discharge barrel to thrust said. sleeve rearwardly,a second spring stronger than said irst spring and thrusting said sleeveand plunger apart, said trigger mechanism en-l ably fitting in saiddischarge barrel and adaptedto move a bullet into firing position, aplun er slidably fitting into the rear portion of sai sleeve, saidtrigger mechanism engaging the rear of said plunger, and means adaptingsaid sleeve and plunger to be -moved as a unit by said trigger mechanismuntil a bullet is moved into firing position, said trig-y ger mechanismand associated means being adapted lthereafter to move further to opensaid valve.

9. In an automatic repeating air rifle, a magazine barrel, a dischargebarrel, a passageway between said barrels, a chamber for compressed air,a spring pressed plunger in said magazine barrel for ejectin bulletsinto said discharge barrel, a mova le sleeve in said discharge barrelfor alternately admitting a bullet through said passageway to saidbarrel ,and for sealing said passageway against the escape of airtherethrough, a spring seated valve in said chamber controlling thepassage of air to said discharge barrel, a trigger, mechanism directlyoperated by said trigger for moving said sleeve and at the same timemomentarily opening said valve, and means for automatically returningsaid mechanism to normal position upon release of manual control of saidtrigger.

10. In an automatic repeating air gun, an air reservoir, a dischargebarrel, a magazine barrel arranged to discharge bullets to saiddischarge barrel, a passage between said barrels, a member for closingsaid passage, a trigger, and means operated thereby for admitting acharge of compressed air from said reservoir to said discharge barrel todischarge a bullet, and means connected to said trigger forautomatically moving said member to open said passage and feed anotherbullet to said discharge barrel immediately upon the release of saidtrigger.

11. In an air gun, a magazine barrel, a discharge barrel, a passagewaybetween said barrels, a member normally spaced rearwardly from saidpassageway, and a trigger element connected to said member and adaptedduring the firing movementV of said trigger to move said memberforwardly to a position to restrain the entrance of bullets from saidmagazine through said passageway into said discharge barrel.

12. In an air gun, an air reservoir, a magazine barrel, a dischargebarrel, a passageway between said barrels, a second passageway betweensaid air reservoir and said discharge barrel, a closure member movableto and from said first mentioned passageway, and a trigger elementadapted to open and close said second passageway and having an operativeconnection with said member for moving the same to close said firstmentioned passageway to prevent the escape of air therethrough.

13. In an air gun,'an air reservoir, a magazine barrel, a dischargebarrel, a passageway between said barrels, an air valve between said airreservoir and said discharge barrel, a sleeve in said discharge barrel,and a trigger arm adapted to open said valve and at the same time tomove said sleeve to close said magazine passageway.

14. In an air gun, a magazine barrel, a discharge barrel, a passagewaybetween said barrels, a sleeve member slidably fitting in said dischargebarrel and adaptedto close or open said passageway, means on said sleeveand discharge barrel limiting the reciprocation of said sleeve in saiddischarge barrel, and a spring engaging said sleeve member and tendingto move said sleeve member rearwardly in said discharge barrel to opensaid passageway to permit a bullet to enter said discharge barrel.

15. In an air gun, a breech block having spaced walls, firing mechanismincluding a trigger located between said walls and having an arm rigidtherewith, bullet repelling elements, an operative connection betweensaid trigger and said elements, and a pin slidable in one of said wallsto and from a position in which it engages said trigger arm to preventmovement thereof and to lock said arm against accidental discharge, themovement of said connection being unrestricted by said pin.

16. In an air gun, a breech block having spaced walls, firing mechanismincluding a trigger located between said walls and having an arm rigidtherewith, bullet repelling elements, and an operative connectionbetween said trigger and said elements, and safety means including alateral recess in one of said walls only, a pin slidable in said recess,a grove in said pin, and a locking element bearing against said grooveto frictionally retain said pin in retracted or advanced position, theinner end of said pin in advanced position engaging said trigger arm toprevent movement thereof, and said pin being spaced a substantialdistance fromsaid operative connection ,in both the advanced andretracted positions of said pin.

` 17. In an air gun, a magazine barrel, a discharge barrel, a passagewaybetween said barrels, a sleeve in said discharge barrel having aninternal diameter less than the diameter of the proper sized bullet forthe gum-the forward end of said sleeve being normally positionedrearwardly o said passageway, and a trigger element engaging said sleeveand adapted during the firing movement of said trigger to move saidsleeve forwardly to engage a bullet withinsaid barrel and place the samein firing position.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature this 14th day ofApril, 1930.

FRANK MIHALYI.

